Brennan Investment Group to develop $1b technology park in Chicago

Brennan Investment Group, a private industrial-property developer and investment firm, is planning to develop six parcels of land totaling 85 acres near Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport into a business park. The project could cost nearly $1 billion to develop.

“America is experiencing an Industrial Renaissance that is creating both new companies and revolutionizing traditional manufacturers,” said Michael Brennan, chairman and managing principal, Brennan Investment Group. “There is an acute shortage of modern facilities in strategic locations that are built in aesthetically pleasing environments. The Elk Grove Village Technology Park will address these needs.”

Work on the park is expected to get under way in the fourth quarter of 2017.

Brennan will initiate development by constructing an amenity-rich infrastructure with ponds, water features, sculptures, bike paths and pedestrian walkways. Upon completion, four speculative facilities, facing Higgins Road, will be built. The development can host an additional five buildings, including sites for data centers. Located nearly adjacent to O’Hare International Airport, the park will be an ideal location for state-of-the-art industrial and data center facilities.

Elk Grove Village is known as the top market in the Chicago area for businesses.

Elk Grove Village is the largest community comprising the O’Hare market with more than 3,600 companies calling Elk Grove Village its principal location.

According to CBRE research, industrial vacancy in the O’Hare market is 2.8 percent and the class A vacancy rate is under 1 percent.

“Demand is extremely high in the O’Hare market and there is virtually no new supply,” said Chris Zubel, managing director with CBRE. “The focus of this park will be specialized high-tech industrial and clean manufacturing firms. With this location and this state-of-the-art product, Elk Grove Technology Park will assure that these firms have a place to grow and flourish.”

According to CBRE Research, Chicago is one of the top three markets in the country for data center leasing activity and Elk Grove Village is the epicenter of this activity as it sits at the convergence of national fiber optics cables. With less than 3 percent vacancy in the Chicago market, supply is not meeting current demand.